THE National Council for Youth (NCY), with the participation of more than 300 volunteers representing many of the Francophone member countries, on Saturday marked the 'International Day of the Francophone Organisation' with a festival entitled 'Together for Peace and Development', held at Al-Gezira Youth Centre in Cairo. The purpose of the festival, which was attended by officials and diplomats from the Francophone membercountries, was to exchange youth experience and ideas in Africa. Othman Haggag, the Council's Executive Director, said that theNCY, with participation of the CONFEJES (which means the sports and youth ministers of the African countries that speak French) organisation, helped young people to launch small projects. "The NCY wants to create jobs for youth," Haggag added during the festival. "The NCY organises the festival every year. The number of participants is increasing,” he said. "We hope to deepen the cultural ties among nations. Today's celebration stresses the importance of creativity and mental values, which help young people face the challenges of the age and reduce unemployment." Diplomats at the festival concurred that the ceremony sent out a message to all Francophone countries to help young people react with each other in Africa. “It was a great festival," Nae'la Gabr, the Secretary-General of the Francophone National Committee, told The Egyptian Gazette. "Themotto of the festival was very expressive, as without peace development can't be achieved. "We are now collecting data for the Francophone National Committee, which was established last year. We have an ambitious programme to establish strong relations between the countries and push youth into constructive and productive activities," the diplomat added. “These include sports activities.” A diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo was also delighted with the event. "The aim of the festival was to make young people from many countries exchange ideas and get to know one another," Claudine Musau, the First Secretary at the Congo Embassy in Cairo, told this newspaper. Elias Hassan Othman from Chad who is studying in Egypt participated in the event, which he described as a step in the right direction. “The festival underlined the importance of the role of the Francophone as it gathers young Africans together, making them interact and boosting the solidarity among them,” said Othman. The Francophone Organisation, which was founded in 1970, includes 70 countries and has its headquarters in Paris. The organisation expanded its base to include sports and youthactivities and held the first Francophone games in 1979. The games are held every four years. In Egypt, an estimated 300,000 Egyptians and foreigners are members of the Francophone organisation. Egypt has been an active and effective member of the organisation since 1983. Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said are all members of the International League of the Francophone Mayors. Cairo, Ain Shams, Alexandria, Helwan and the French universities are all members of the scientific network supervised by the Francophone University Agency. The ceremony featured Egyptian and African folkloric dancing and music.
